Procession of kingSuddhodana from Kapilavastu, proceeding to meet his son the Buddha walking in mid-air (head raised at the bottom of the panel), and to give him a Banyan tree (bottom left corner).[1] The dream ofMaya at the top of the panel is a sure marker of Kapilavastu.Sanchi.
Buddhisttexts such as thePāli Canon say that Kapilavastu was the childhood home of Gautama Buddha, on account of it being the capital of the Shakyas, over whom his father ruled.[2] Kapilavastu is the place where Siddhartha Gautama spent the first 29 years of his life. According to Buddhist sources the name Kapilvatthu means "tawny area", due to the abundance of reddish sand in the area.[3][4] Most foreign accounts from the medieval period, particularly from China, described Kapilavastu as being part of "Central India".[5]
Kapilavastu never became a major pilgrimage site like Buddha's birthplace atLumbini not far away, which would have left unmistakable remains. The settlement was probably never as large as depictions in earlyBuddhist art suggest, and after thedecline of Buddhism in India its location faded into obscurity.[citation needed] There are now two sites near the border betweenNepal andIndia which are claimed as Kapilavastu —Piprahwa inUttar Pradesh, India andTilaurakot in Nepal. Finds at the Piprahwa (including areliquary found inside a mudstupa) indicate Buddhist activity dating to the 5th–4th century BCE, around the time of the death of the Buddha.[6]
The 19th-century search for the historical site of Kapilavastu followed the accounts left byFaxian and later byXuanzang, who were ChineseBuddhist monks who made early pilgrimages to the site.[7][8][9][10] Some archaeologists have identified present-dayTilaurakot,Nepal, while others have identified present-dayPiprahwa,India as the location for the historical site of Kapilavastu, the seat of governance of the Shakya state that would have covered the region.[11][12][13] Both sites contain archaeological ruins. Those at Piprahwa show it was a significant early Buddhist site with astupa and monasteries, and probably relics of the Buddha.[6][14][15][16]
^Beal, Samuel (1884).Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, by Hiuen Tsiang. 2 vols. Translated by Samuel Beal. London. 1884. Reprint: Delhi. Oriental Books Reprint Corporation. 1969.Volume 1
^Beal, Samuel (1911).The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang. Translated from the Chinese of Shaman (monk) Hwui Li by Samuel Beal. London. 1911. ReprintMunshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi. 1973.Internet Archive
